This is a particularly high quality example of a small group of fine antique silk Heriz rugs from the best period of silk weaving in that area. The rich old gold field has a flattened lozenge trellis defined by leafy diagonals. Each cell has either a cypress with herringbone internal details and flowering sprays emerging from the base, or a stylized “weeping” shrub. The madder red main border combines turtle palmettes and rosettes with beige inscription cartouches and pointed octofoils. The inscription in nastaliq script is poetic and repeats. The text is from the famous Persian poet Hafiz: the first sentence of his eleventh ghazal. The English translation: O wine bearer, brighten my cup with the wine. O minstrel, say good fortune is mine.

The texture is extremely thin with a cloth-like pliable handle resulting from the single wefts and undepressed warps. All the silk is of exceptionally high quality and comes from the Persian province of Rasht on the Caspian Sea.

The allover lattice pattern with chessboard corners, is seen on a small group of classic 3rd quarter 19th century Heriz silks. In each corner is a tiny golden quadruped.

The dyes are all natural: madder for the red, weld for the golden yellow, indigo for the various blues. The ivory-beige is undyed. There are at least ten distinct tones.

Production of silk Heriz rugs of this quality was always small and each was a special order. Given their initial cost, none was made as a market speculation. The best period of silk weaving in the Heriz area was 1850-1875 and no pieces of this quality seem to date after 1880. By the 1890’s, all silk rug production from the area had moved to Tabriz where both styles and textures had radically altered.

This rug came from a private collection of exceptional taste and discernment.